high school grad

The summer before college is a little bittersweet. You’ve just thrown your graduation cap with all of your grade school friends and are now preparing to not only say goodbye to them but also your family. It’s a weird transitional time of where you’re closing one chapter and preparing to begin another one. Here are 10 things to do the summer before college to help make the transition a little easier and fun.

#1. Contact your soon-to-be roommate (if you’re living in the dorms).

Once school begins you’ll be spending quite a bit of time with your roommate, so you might as well get to know them before school starts. Because, how awkward is it to meet someone for the first time and then sleep in the same room as them that same day? To avoid the awkwardness, you should at least talk to your roommate before the move-in day. The first step could be email (simply introduce yourself), and then maybe after a couple of back and forth you can add them on social media. But REMEMBER: while social media can be a good way to learn about the other person’s interests, hobbies, and lifestyle, it’s never the whole story. So skim, don’t stalk!

Speaking of social media…

#2. Clean up/organize your social media accounts.

Remove any old embarrassingng posts that you don’t want your roommate to see.

Make a LinkedIn account. You can find jobs/internships, network with professionals in any field, and much more. You might not use it all too much right away, but you’ll definitely see the use of it later on in your college life. (Speaking of which… you should begin your internship search NOW – trust me, it’s not too early!)

Join the Facebook page and/or follow the Twitter account for your class and stay updated! Talk to people, ask questions, and make friends before you officially start college.

#3. Make a list of things you need to buy for your college dorm.

But you might want to hold off on actually buying them until you’ve seen your dorm room.

#4. Register for classes.

Review (which means actually read through) the syllabus for each class to see if it’s something that you’d actually be interested in. Remember, this is college, where you actually pay for your classes – therefore only register for classes that you think are going to be worth your time, money, and effort!

*You might want to check the reputation of the professor before registering for a class, although you have to use your discretion with some of the reviews.*

#5. Apply for scholarships.

Most colleges offer financial assistance of some sort, including university grants, but you can always apply for outside scholarships! But before you go ahead and start applying to scholarships, master these scholarship hacks first so you don’t waste time!

#6. Look up textbooks for your classes.

Be warned: textbooks are expensive! However, there are good and bad times to buy textbooks, and TUN’s Textbook Search Engine will give you the cheapest options (new, used, or e-books) for your textbooks.

#7. Research clubs and organizations offered by your school.

Be prepared to get involved! One thing that a lot of college grads express regret over is not being involved on campus. Joining clubs and organizations is a great way to make friends and build professional relationships.

Plan ahead: talk to your parents, do some research, and write down any questions you might have.

#9: Pick up your forgotten hobbies or learn new skills!

This may be picking up your guitar that’s been collecting dust in the corner of your room for years, vlogging, workout out, or learning Photoshop or Excel. Let’s face it – you probably have more time now than you’ll ever have (sorry…) so make good use of it!

#10. Take it easy.

In college, most students work over the summer, and after you graduate from college, you’ll miss the big block of free time called summer vacation. So take advantage of it. Take a road trip with some friends, go on a family vacation, and hang out with your high school friends before parting ways (even though you’re probably going to get together for Thanksgiving break, Christmas break, New Years, and basically any major Holiday or breaks)!

Ally Gonzales is the founder & editor-in-chief of RunningSoleGirl. Along with blogging she is also juggling attending college and majoring in Exercise and Sports Science with a Sports Management minor.

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Welcome to RunningSoleGirl! I’m Ally Gonzales a college sophomore majoring in Sports Science with a Sports Management minor. Merely trying to figure life out while aiming for that BQ time.